In the same way the wrinkles and stoop of an old gentleman can sometimes mask a feisty personality, the faded sign out front of the First Baptist Church here and its weathered exterior belie the vibrant doings within.
Pop your head inside the church’s foyer on any given day and you’ll hear 72-year-old trumpeter Frank Hart improvising Wilson Pickett’s In the Midnight Hour with a crew of other elderly musicians. Or swing around back and you’ll likely find the church’s head pastor, the Rev. James Brown, picking grapes in the organic orchard, laughing and talking with some of his congregants, in his deep, gravelly voice, about the importance of eating fresh foods to keep the mind and body strong. The church’s freshwater fish farm ”” teeming with tilapia ”” bubbles nearby. Later, some will be cooked up in a cornmeal batter for church suppers.
When I’m 72 years old I hope I don’t have to wait for the midnight hour for my love to come tumbling down. She’ll find me asleep.